BOCA RATON, Fla. — Displaying power with both its arms and bats, Appalachian State Baseball opened its Florida trip with a 6-3 win against NCAA Regional staple FAU on Tuesday night.
Dalton Williams' first career home run and
Riley Smith's three-run homer to center gave App State a 6-0 lead in support of starting pitcher
Brandon Boone, who gave up two runs in five innings. Boone (seven strikeouts),
Kaleb Bowman (five strikeouts in three innings) and
Andrew Papp (two strikeouts in a perfect ninth to earn the save) combined to strike out 13 batters and allow eight hits.
The Mountaineers (4-6) totaled nine hits, including two apiece from Smith and
Luke Drumheller, to win in front of a large gathering of App State supporters and alums. It was Appalachian's first-ever matchup against FAU, which has made four NCAA appearances in the last six seasons, including one during a 43-19-1 season in 2018.
Making his second straight start at DH, facing left-handed pitcher Hunter Cooley, Williams pulled a no-doubt homer to right on a 3-2 offering to give App State a 1-0 lead in the second inning. That blast from the freshman occurred after a bottom of the first in which the first two batters reached and Boone responded with three straight strikeouts.
Bailey Welch followed Drumheller's two-out double inside the bag at third with an RBI single to left for a 2-0 lead in the third inning, and Smith's homer produced the most damage in a four-run fourth.
Kendall McGowan singled, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before Williams turned an 0-2 count into a walk. Smith drilled an 0-1 pitch to center and hit the batter's eye with his first homer of 2019.
Alex Leshock reached first on a one-out strikeout in the dirt and advanced to third on a single by
Luke Allison, who then stole second. The lead increased to 6-0 on a sacrifice fly to right by Drumheller, who was robbed of a hit by diving outfielder Bobby Morgensen.
Francisco Urbaez's two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth put the Owls back within striking distance, but the trio of Boone, Bowman and Papp combined to allow one run over the final five innings.
FAU (6-7) cut its deficit to 6-3 with a two-out RBI single in the sixth, and Bowman stranded two runners with a strikeout on a 3-2 pitch. McGowan threw out a baserunner trying to stretch a single into a double leading off the bottom of the seventh, and Bowman ended that frame with back-to-back strikeouts.
Bowman pitched a perfect eighth before giving way to Papp, who finished his second career save with consecutive strikeouts. The last 10 batters of the game for FAU were technically retired in order.
App State returns to action Wednesday at 6 p.m. with a game at Miami (9-2), and
Cameron Kepley is the probable mound starter for the Mountaineers.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
